China During the 1980s, China acquired eight SA 342L combat helicopters; these were the first dedicated attack helicopters to be operated by the
People's Liberation Army. The purchase of further aircraft, including licensed production of the aircraft in China, had been under consideration, but this initiative was apparently abandoned following the end of the
Cold War. The small fleet was used to develop anti-armour warfare tactics, Gazelles have also been frequently used to simulate hostile forces during
military training exercises.
France The French Army has deployed the Gazelle overseas in many large-scale operations, often in support of international military interventions; including in
Chad (in the 1980s), the
former Yugoslavia (1990s),
Djibouti (1991–1992),
Somalia (1993),
Côte d'Ivoire (2002–present) and Afghanistan (2002–2021). In 1990–1991, upwards of 50 French Gazelles were deployed as part of France's contribution to coalition forces during the
First Gulf War. During the subsequent military action, known as
Operation Desert Storm, HOT-carrying Gazelles were employed by several nations' forces, including
Kuwait's air force, against
Iraqi military forces occupying neighbouring Kuwait. During the coalition's offensive into Kuwait, French Gazelles adopted a tactic of strafing enemy tanks, vehicles, and bunkers in continuous waves at high speed. Gazelles have often been dispatched to support and protect UN international missions, such as the 1992 intervention in the
Bosnian War. In addition to performing land-based operations, French Gazelles have also been frequently deployed from French naval vessels. In April 2008, witnesses reported up to six French Gazelles reportedly firing rockets upon Somali pirates during a major counter-
piracy operation. During the
2011 military intervention in Libya, multiple Gazelles were operated from the French Navy's amphibious assault ship
Tonnerre; strikes were launched into
Libya against pro-Gadhafi military forces. Military interventions in African nations, particularly former French colonies, have often been supported by Gazelles in both reconnaissance and attack roles; nations involved in previous engagements include
Chad,
Djibouti,
Somalia, and the
Côte d'Ivoire. In April 2011, as part of a UN-mandated campaign in Côte d'Ivoire, four Gazelle attack helicopters, accompanied by two
Mil Mi-24 gunships, opened fire upon the compound of rebel president Gbagbo to neutralise heavy weaponry, which led to his surrender. In January 2013, Gazelles were used as gunships in the
Opération Serval in
Mali, performing raids upon insurgent forces fighting government forces in the north of the country. In 2016 the
Direction générale de l'armement announced that Gazelle helicopters of the French Army Aviation's
4th Special Forces Helicopter Regiment (4ème RHFS) could be equipped with the
M134 Minigun.
Iraq During the
Iran–Iraq War fought throughout most of the 1980s, a significant amount of French-built military equipment was purchased by Iraq, including a fleet of 40
HOT-armed Gazelles. Iraq reportedly received roughly 100 Gazelle helicopters. The Gazelle was commonly used in conjunction with Soviet-built
Mil Mi-24 gunships, and were frequently used in counterattacks against Iranian forces. By 2000, following significant equipment losses resulting from the 1991
Gulf War, Iraq reportedly had only 20 Gazelles left in its inventory. In 2003, US intelligence officials alleged that a French firm had continued to sell spare components for the Gazelle and other French-built aircraft to Iraq via a third-party trading company, despite an
embargo being in place.
Eurocopter, Aerospatiale's successor company, had denied playing any role, stating in 2008 that "no parts have been delivered to Iraq". In April 2009, Iraq, as part of a larger military procurement initiative, bought six Gazelles from France for training purposes.
Syria Gazelle, captured by Israel in Lebanon in 1982 Syrian Gazelles were used extensively during the
1982 Lebanon War. In the face of a major Israeli ground advance, repetitive harassment attacks were launched by the Gazelles, which were able to slow their advance. According to author Roger Spiller, panic and a sense of vulnerability quickly spread amongst Israeli tank crews following the first of these Gazelle strikes on 8 June 1982; the range of the Gazelle's HOT missiles being a key factor in its effectiveness. The effectiveness of the Syrian helicopter raids was reduced throughout the month of June as Syrian air defenses were progressively eroded and the Israeli Air Force took aerial supremacy over Eastern Lebanon, thus making operations by attack helicopters increasingly vulnerable. However, Gazelle strikes continued to be successfully performed up to the issuing of a ceasefire. The 1982 war served to highlight the importance and role of attack helicopters in future conflicts due to their performance on both sides of the conflict. Following the end of the war, the Syrian Army would claim that significant damage had been delivered against Israeli forces, such as the destruction of 30 tanks and 50 other vehicles, against the loss of five helicopters. Israel would claim a loss of seven tanks to the Gazelle strikes and the downing of 12 Syrian Gazelles. Following the end of the war, Syria increased the size of its attack helicopter fleet from 16 to 50 Gazelles, complemented by a further 50 heavier
Mil Mi-24 gunships.
Kuwait During the 1991
Gulf War, roughly 15 Gazelles were able to retreat into neighbouring
Saudi Arabia, along with other elements of
Kuwait's armed forces, during the invasion of the nation by Iraq. During the subsequent coalition offensive to dislodge Iraqi forces from Kuwait, several of the escaped Kuwaiti Gazelles launched attack missions into occupied Kuwait to destroy Iraqi tanks and other, military targets.
Ecuador The Gazelle was used by the Ecuadoran Army during the 1995
Cenepa war between Ecuador and neighboring
Peru, performing missions such as
close air support and escorting other helicopters. In 2008, a minor diplomatic spat broke out between
Colombia and Ecuador following a reportedly accidental incursion into Colombian airspace by an Ecuadoran Gazelle.
United Kingdom In 1973, 142 aircraft were on order by the UK, out of a then-intended fleet of 250.
No. 660 Squadron AAC, based in
Salamanca Barracks, Germany, was the first British Army unit to be equipped with Gazelles, entering operational service on 6 July 1974. The Gazelles, replacements for the
Sioux, were assigned the roles of reconnaissance, troop deployment, direction of artillery fire, casualty evacuation and anti-tank operations. In August 1974, 30 were based at
RAF Ternhill for RAF helicopter training. The Royal Navy's Gazelles entered service in December 1974 with
705 Naval Air Squadron,
Culdrose, to provide all-through flying training in preparation for the
Westland Lynx's service entry. A total of 23 Gazelles were ordered for Culdrose. Army-owned AH.1s also entered service with
3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron (3 CBAS) of the Royal Marines and later, the
Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) of the
Fleet Air Arm, where they operated as utility and reconnaissance helicopters in support of the
Royal Marines. The 12 Gazelles for 3 CBAS had entered service in 1975, by which time, there were 310 Gazelles on order for the British military. Gazelles that had replaced the Sioux in
RAF Sek Kong towards the end of 1974(?) had been found unsuitable for
Hong Kong and, by the end of 1978, had been returned to the UK and they were replaced by the Scout AH1. During its Cold War service period, the Army Gazelles flew over 660,000 hours and had over 1,000 modifications made to the aircraft. From the early 1980s, Army-operated Gazelles were fitted with the Gazelle Observation Aid, a gyro-stabilised sight to match their target finding capability with that of the Lynx. The type also had a limited, special operations aviation role with
8 Flight Army Air Corps The type was also frequently used to perform airborne patrols in
Northern Ireland. On 17 February 1978, a
British Army Gazelle crashed near
Jonesborough,
County Armagh, after coming under fire from the
Provisional IRA during a ground skirmish. During the
Falklands War, the Gazelle played a valuable role operating from the flight decks of
Royal Navy ships. Under a rapidly performed crash programme specifically for the Falklands conflict, Gazelles were fitted with 68mm
SNEB rocket pods and various other optional equipment such as armour plating, flotation gear and folding blade mechanisms. Two Royal Marines Gazelles were shot down on the first day of the landings at
San Carlos Water. In a
high-profile incident on 6 June 1982, an
Army Air Corps Gazelle was mistaken for a low-flying Argentine Lockheed C-130 Hercules and was shot down by
HMS Cardiff, a British
Type 42 destroyer. in 2014 The Gazelle also operated in reconnaissance and liaison roles during the
War in Afghanistan. In 2007, it was reported that, while many British helicopters had struggled with the conditions of the Afghan and Iraqi theatres, the Gazelle was the "best performing model" with roughly 80% being available for planned operations. Various branches of the British military have operated Gazelles in other theatres, such as during the 1991
Gulf War against
Iraq and in the 1999 intervention in
Kosovo. In 2009, the Army Air Corps was the sole operator of the Gazelle with approximately 40 in service with a planned out of service date in 2012. In October 2009, it was announced that the out of service date had been extended to support domestic commitments including to the
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) until 2018 at which point the PSNI was to have their own assets. In July 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that the Gazelle would remain in service until 2025 taking the Gazelle past its 50th anniversary in UK military service and making it the oldest helicopter in active UK inventory. At this time, the Gazelle was operated by
29 (BATUS) Flight AAC in Canada supporting
British Army Training Unit Suffield;
665 Squadron AAC in Northern Ireland with aerial surveillance tasks; and at the
Army Aviation Centre by
7 (Training) Regiment AAC Conversion Flight and 667 (Development & Trials) Squadron AAC. In 2018 and 2019, the Ministry of Defence awarded contracts to sustain the fleet until 2022 with the option of an extension in 2025. In 2019, the Army Air Corps had a fleet of 32 Gazelles with 19 in service. It was announced in January 2022 that the rest of the British Army's Gazelles will be phased out by March 2024 to be replaced by
Airbus Helicopters H135. It was further announced that the Gazelle would be retired from service on 31 October 2023. The Army Air Corps made a farewell flypast from
Flying Station Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Vector Aerospace International Ltd in Gosport, flying over various British Army and RAF bases, on 23 October.
Yugoslavia On 27 June 1991, during the
Ten Day War in
Slovenia, a
Yugoslav Air Force Gazelle helicopter was shot down by a man-portable
9K32 Strela-2 surface-to-air missile over
Ljubljana, the first aircraft to be lost during the
breakup of Yugoslavia. The Gazelles would see further action in the subsequent
Yugoslav Wars, particularly in Bosnia where
Republika Srpska Air Force conducted many operations with only five Gazelles lost, and the
Kosovo War; as Yugoslavia dissolved, the various successor states would inherit the SOKO-built Gazelles and continue to operate them, such as the
Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Serbian Air Force and Montenegro Air Force.
Lebanon Between 1980 and 1981, the
Lebanese Air Force received from France ten SA 342K/L and SA 341H Gazelles equipped for anti-tank and utility roles, respectively, to equip its newly raised 8th attack squadron at
Beirut Air Base. Initially based at the latter location, in 1983 the squadron was relocated north of the Lebanese capital, with the Gazelles being dispersed in small improvised helipads around
Jounieh and
Adma for security reasons, where one of the helicopters may have been damaged in a failed takeoff. In 1988, a
Lebanese Air Force pilot, the Druze Lieutenant
Majed Karameh, defected from
Adma airfield and flew a SA 342K attack helicopter to the Druze-controlled
Chouf District, where it was impounded by the Druze
People's Liberation Army (PLA) militia upon landing and transported by a PLA
MAZ-537G tank transporter to the Saïd el-Khateeb Barracks at
Hammana in the
Baabda District. This particular helicopter appears to have never been used in combat by the PLA (since they had no aviation component, and therefore lacked the technically proficient personnel to help fly and maintain the captured airframe), which ended up being simply placed on storage at Hammana under the custody of the Druze
11th Infantry Brigade for the remainder of the Civil War. Employed extensively in the gunship role by providing
close air support to General
Michel Aoun's troops during the final phase of the
Lebanese Civil War, combat losses and maintenance problems reduced the Gazelle fleet to just four operational helicopters by 1990, with three of the machines reportedly being apprehended by the
Lebanese Forces militia who illegally sold them to
Serbia in 1991. After the conflict, the
Lebanese Air Force Command made consistent efforts to rebuild its attack helicopter squadron with the help of the
United Arab Emirates and nine SA 342L Gazelles formerly in service with the
United Arab Emirates Air Force were delivered in 2007. Due to budgetary constraints, the majority of the Gazelles operated by the
Lebanese Air Force have often been kept in storage outside of times of conflict. Rocket-armed Gazelles were used to strike insurgent bunkers during the brief conflict. According to reports, France may also provide additional Gazelles to Lebanon. The
Royal Moroccan Air Force operated these Gazelles, which were equipped with a mix of anti-tank missiles and other ground attack munitions, and made frequent use of the aircraft during battles with Polisario insurgents in the western
Sahara region. The reconnaissance capabilities of the Gazelle were instrumental in finding and launching attacks upon insurgent camps due to their mobility.
Rwanda In 1990, following appeals from Rwandan President
Juvénal Habyarimana for French support in interethnic conflict against the
Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), nine armed Gazelles were exported to Rwanda in 1992. The Gazelles would see considerable use in the conflict that became known as the
Rwandan Civil War, capable of strafing enemy positions as well as performing reconnaissance patrols of Northern Rwanda; in October 1992, a single Gazelle destroyed a column of ten RPF units. According to author Andrew Wallis, the Gazelle gunships helped to stop significant RPF advances and led to a major change in RPF tactics towards
guerrilla warfare. In 1994, French forces dispatched as a part of
Opération Turquoise, a
United Nations-mandated intervention in the conflict, also operated a number of Gazelles in the theatre.
Egypt As part of a major international initiative formalised in 1975 to build up
Arab military industries, Egypt commenced widescale efforts to replace arms imports with domestic production to provide military equipment to the rest of the
Middle East, other Arab partner nations included
Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, and
Qatar. Both France and Britain would form large agreements with Egypt; in March 1978, the
Arab British Helicopter Company (ABHCO) was formally established in a $595 million deal with
Westland Helicopters, initially for the purpose of domestically assembly of British
Westland Lynx helicopters. An initial order for 42 Gazelles was placed in mid-1975. In the 1980s, ABHCO performed the assembly of 100 Gazelles;
Mozambique In 2021, three Gazelle helicopters played a significant role in the
Battle of Palma, providing air support at the behest of the Mozambique security forces battling the insurgents and evacuating civilians and contractors from the besieged town. ==Variants==